Storm Reference - Type-Specific Storm Behavior

Some data types (Type) within Synapse have additional optimizations. These include optimizations for:

  • indexing (how the type is stored for retrieval);

  • parsing (how the type can be specified for input);

  • insertion (how the type can be used to create or modify nodes);

  • operations (how the type can be lifted, filtered, or otherwise compared).

Types that have been optimized in various ways are documented below along with any specialized operations that may be available for those types.

This section is not a complete reference of all available types. In addition, this section does not address the full range of type enforcement constraints that may restrict the values that can be specified for a given type (such as via a constructor (ctor)). For details on available types and type constraints or enforcement, see the online documentation or the Synapse source code.

array

An array is a specialized type that consists of either a list or a set of typed values. That is, an array is a type that consists of one or more values that are themselves all of a single, defined type.

Tip

An array that is a list can have duplicate entries in the list. An array that is a set consists of a unique group of entries.

Array types can be used for properties where that property is likely to have multiple values, but it is undesirable to represent those values using multiple Relationship nodes. Examples of array secondary properties include media:news:authors, inet:email:message:headers, and ps:person:names. You can view all secondary properties that are array types using the following Storm query:

syn:prop:type=array

Indexing

N/A

Parsing

Because an array is a list or set of typed values, array elements can be input in any format supported by the type of the elements themselves. For example, if an array consists of inet:ipv4 values, the values can be input in any supported inet:ipv4 format (e.g., integer, hex, dotted-decimal string, etc.).

Insertion

Because it may contain multiple values, an array property must be set using comma-separated values enclosed in parentheses (this is true even if the array contains only a single element; you must still use parentheses, and the single element must still be followed by a trailing comma). Single or double quotes are required in accordance with the standard rules for using Whitespace and Literals in Storm.

Example:

Set the :names property of an organization (ou:org) node to a single value:

storm> ou:org:name=vertex [ :names=('The Vertex Project',) ]
ou:org=29b6e7bad25fc3538503ba94bd89365a
        :name = vertex
        :names = ['the vertex project']
        :url = https://vertex.link/
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:54.859

Example:

Set the :names property of an organization (ou:org) node to contain multiple variations of the organization name:

storm> ou:org:name=vertex [ :names=('The Vertex Project', 'The Vertex Project, LLC', Vertex) ]
ou:org=29b6e7bad25fc3538503ba94bd89365a
        :name = vertex
        :names = ['the vertex project', 'the vertex project, llc', 'vertex']
        :url = https://vertex.link/
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:54.859

Warning

Using the equals ( = ) operator to set an array property value will set or update (overwrite) the entire property value. To add or remove individual elements from an array, use the += or -= operators.

Example:

Add a name to the array of names associated with an organization:

storm> ou:org:name='Monty Python' [ :names+='The Spanish Inquisition' ]
ou:org=cebe11b250a4e741fd4a1a190b3f260e
        :name = monty python
        :names = ['monty python', 'the spanish inquisition']
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:54.913

Remove a name from the array of names associated with an organization:

storm> ou:org:name='Monty Python' [ :names-='The Spanish Inquisition' ]
ou:org=cebe11b250a4e741fd4a1a190b3f260e
        :name = monty python
        :names = ['monty python']
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:54.913

Tip

The standard “edit try” operator ( ?= ) (see Edit “Try” Operator (?=) in the Storm Reference - Data Modification) can be used to attempt to set a full array property value where you are unsure whether the value will succeed. The specialized ?+= or ?-= operators can be used to attempt to add or remove a single array value in a similar manner.

Example:

Use the specialized “edit try” operator to attempt to add a single value to the :authors array property of an article (media:news node). (Note: a type-inappropriate value (a name) is used below to show the “fail silently” behavior for the “edit try” operator. The :authors property is an array of ps:contact nodes and requires ps:contact guid values.)

storm> media:news:org=kaspersky [ :authors?+='john smith' ]
media:news=c674634901dc6865b74537cf412ab99a
        :org = kaspersky
        :title = new report on really bad threat
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:54.932

Usage Notes:

  • When using the standard “edit try” operator ( ?= ) to attempt to set the full value of an array property (vs. adding or removing an element from an array), the entire attempt will fail if any value in the list of values fails. For example, if you try to set [ :identities:emails?=(alice@vertex.link, bob) ] on an X509 certificate (crypto:x509:cert), Synapse will fail to set the property altogether because bob is not a valid email address type (even though alice@vertex.link is).

  • The “edit try” operator for removing individual elements from an array ( ?-= ) is unique to arrays as they are the only type that allows removal of a single element from a property. (Properties with a single value are either set, modified (updated), or the property is deleted altogether.) As with other uses of “edit try”, use of the operator allows the operation to silently fail (vs. error and halt) if the operation attempts to remove a value from an array that does not match the array’s defined type. For example, attempting to remove an IPv4 from an array of email addresses will halt with a BadTypeValu error if the standard remove operator ( -=) is used, but silently fail (do nothing and continue) if the “edit try” version ( ?-=) is used.

Operations

Lifting and Filtering

Lifting or filtering array properties using the equals ( = ) operator requires an exact match of the full array property value. This makes sense for forms with simple values like inet:ipv4=1.2.3.4, but is often infeasible for arrays because lifting by the full array value requires you to know the exact values of each of the array elements as well as their exact order:

storm> ou:org:names=("The Vertex Project", "The Vertex Project, LLC", Vertex)
ou:org=29b6e7bad25fc3538503ba94bd89365a
        :name = vertex
        :names = ['the vertex project', 'the vertex project, llc', 'vertex']
        :url = https://vertex.link/
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:54.859

For this reason, Storm offers a special “by” syntax for lifting and filtering with array types. The syntax consists of an asterisk ( * ) preceding a set of square brackets ( [ ] ), where the square brackets contain a comparison operator and a value that can match one or more elements in the array. This allows users to match one or more elements in the array similarly to how they would match individual property values.

Note

The square brackets used to lift or filter based on values in an array should not be confused with square brackets used to add or modify nodes or properties in Edit Mode.

Examples:

Lift the ou:org node(s) whose :names property contains a name that exactly matches vertex:

storm> ou:org:names*[=vertex]
ou:org=29b6e7bad25fc3538503ba94bd89365a
        :name = vertex
        :names = ['the vertex project', 'the vertex project, llc', 'vertex']
        :url = https://vertex.link/
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:54.859

Lift the ou:org node(s) whose :names property contains a name that includes the string vertex:

storm> ou:org:names*[~=vertex]
ou:org=29b6e7bad25fc3538503ba94bd89365a
        :name = vertex
        :names = ['the vertex project', 'the vertex project, llc', 'vertex']
        :url = https://vertex.link/
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:54.859
ou:org=29b6e7bad25fc3538503ba94bd89365a
        :name = vertex
        :names = ['the vertex project', 'the vertex project, llc', 'vertex']
        :url = https://vertex.link/
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:54.859
ou:org=29b6e7bad25fc3538503ba94bd89365a
        :name = vertex
        :names = ['the vertex project', 'the vertex project, llc', 'vertex']
        :url = https://vertex.link/
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:54.859

Lift the x509 certificate nodes that reference the domain microsoft.com:

storm> crypto:x509:cert:identities:fqdns*[=microsoft.com]
crypto:x509:cert=615d45b9914f0e56c9d3d3e29daa61e2
        :identities:fqdns = ['microsoft.com', 'verisign.com']
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:54.962

Downselect a set of ou:org nodes to include only those with a name that starts with “acme”:

storm> ou:org +:names*[^=acme]
ou:org=4e34b7a09c3ea401ce44f83048224a9b
        :name = acme construction
        :names = ['acme construction']
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:54.988
ou:org=cb4d7129404b1f63ee49831561a5ae6b
        :name = acme consulting
        :names = ['acme consulting']
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:54.986

See Lift by (Arrays) (*[ ]) and Filter by (Arrays) (*[ ]) for additional details.

Pivoting

Synapse and Storm are type-aware and will facilitate pivoting between properties of the same type. This includes pivoting between individual typed properties and array properties consisting of those same types. Type awareness for arrays includes both standard form and property pivots as well as wildcard pivots.

Examples:

Pivot from a set of x509 certificate nodes to the set of domains referenced by the certificates (such as in the :identities:fqdns array property):

storm> crypto:x509:cert -> inet:fqdn
inet:fqdn=microsoft.com
        :domain = com
        :host = microsoft
        :issuffix = false
        :iszone = true
        :zone = microsoft.com
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:54.963
inet:fqdn=verisign.com
        :domain = com
        :host = verisign
        :issuffix = false
        :iszone = true
        :zone = verisign.com
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:54.963

Pivot from a set of ou:name nodes to any nodes that reference those names (this would include ou:org nodes where the ou:name is present in the :name property or as an element in the :names array):

storm> ou:name^=acme <- *
ou:org=4e34b7a09c3ea401ce44f83048224a9b
        :name = acme construction
        :names = ['acme construction']
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:54.988
ou:org=4e34b7a09c3ea401ce44f83048224a9b
        :name = acme construction
        :names = ['acme construction']
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:54.988
ou:org=cb4d7129404b1f63ee49831561a5ae6b
        :name = acme consulting
        :names = ['acme consulting']
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:54.986
ou:org=cb4d7129404b1f63ee49831561a5ae6b
        :name = acme consulting
        :names = ['acme consulting']
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:54.986

file:bytes

file:bytes is a special type used to represent any file (i.e., any arbitrary set of bytes). Note that a file can be represented as a node within a Cortex regardless of whether the file itself (the specific set of bytes) is available (i.e., stored in an Axon). This is essential as many other data model elements allow (or depend on) the concept of a file (as opposed to a hash).

The file:bytes type is a specialized guid type. A file can be uniquely represented by the specific contents of the file itself. As it is impractical to use “all the bytes” as a primary property value, it makes sense to use a shortened representation of those bytes - that is, a hash. MD5 collisions can now be generated with ease, and SHA1 collisions were demonstrated in 2017. For this reason, Synapse uses the SHA256 hash of a file (considered sufficiently immune from collision attacks for the time being) as “unique enough” to act as the primary property of a file:bytes node if available. Otherwise, a guid is generated and used.

Indexing

N/A

Parsing

file:bytes must be input using their complete primary property. It is impractical to manually type a SHA256 hash or 128-bit guid value. For this reason file:bytes forms are most often specified by referencing the node via a more human-friendly secondary property or by pivoting to the node. Alternately, the file:bytes value can be copied and pasted for use in a query.

The primary property of a file:bytes node indicates how the node was created (i.e., via the SHA256 hash or via a guid):

  • A node created using the SHA256 hash will have a primary property value consisting of sha256: prepended

to the SHA256 hash:

file:bytes=sha256:e3b0c44298fc1c149afbf4c8996fb92427ae41e4649b934ca495991b7852b855

  • A node created using a guid will have a primary property value consisting of guid: prepended to the

guid value:

file:bytes=guid:22d4ed1b75c9eb5ff8070e0df1e8ed6b

Note

When specifying a SHA256-based file:bytes node, entering the sha256: prefix is optional. The following are equivalent representations of the same file:

file:bytes=sha256:e3b0c44298fc1c149afbf4c8996fb92427ae41e4649b934ca495991b7852b855

file:bytes=e3b0c44298fc1c149afbf4c8996fb92427ae41e4649b934ca495991b7852b855

Insertion

A file:bytes node can be created in one of three ways:

SHA256 Hash

A SHA256 hash can be specified as the node’s primary property. The sha256: prefix can optionally be specified, but is not required (it will be added automatically on node creation). Storm will recognize the primary property value as a SHA256 hash and also set the :sha256 secondary property. Any other secondary properties must be set manually.

storm> [ file:bytes = 44daad9dbd84c92fa9ec52649b028b4c0f7d285407685778d09bad4b397747d0 ]
file:bytes=sha256:44daad9dbd84c92fa9ec52649b028b4c0f7d285407685778d09bad4b397747d0
        :sha256 = 44daad9dbd84c92fa9ec52649b028b4c0f7d285407685778d09bad4b397747d0
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.023

Because the SHA256 is considered unique (for now) for our purposes, the node is fully deconflictable. If additional secondary properties such as :size or other hashes are obtained later, or if the actual file is obtained, the node can be updated with the additional properties based on deconfliction with the SHA256 hash.

GUID Value

The asterisk can be used to generate a file:bytes node with an arbitrary guid value:

storm> [ file:bytes = * ]
file:bytes=guid:733f12e70dddd1e9dbdd66668f1174cb
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.029

Alternately, a potentially deconflictable guid can be generated by specifying a list of one or more values to the guid generator (for example, an MD5 and / or SHA1 hash). This will generate a predictable guid:

storm> [ file:bytes = (63fcc49b2ac6cbd686f4d9704446c673,) :md5=63fcc49b2ac6cbd686f4d9704446c673 ]
file:bytes=guid:34f71d05b9e06558b184aac6f4010a12
        :md5 = 63fcc49b2ac6cbd686f4d9704446c673
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.036

Synapse does not recognize any strings passed to the guid generator as specific types or properties and will not use values used to generate the guid to set any secondary property values; those properties must be explicitly set (e.g., the :md5 property in the example above).

See the section on type-specific behavior for guid types for additional discussion of arbitrary (non-deconflictable) vs. deconflictable guids.

Note

“Deconflicting” file:bytes nodes based on an MD5 or SHA1 hash alone is potentially risky because both of those hashes are subject to collision attacks. In other words, two files that have the same MD5 hash or the same SHA1 hash are not guaranteed to be the same file based on that single hash alone.

In short, creating file:bytes nodes using the MD5 and / or SHA1 hash can allow the creation of “potentially” deconflictable nodes when no other data is available. However, this deconfliction is subject to some limitations, as noted above. In addition, if the actual file (full bytes) or corresponding SHA256 hash is obtained later, it is not possible to “convert” a guid-based file:bytes node to one whose primary property is based on the SHA256 hash.

Actual Bytes

You can also create a file:bytes node by adding the actual file (set of bytes) to Synapse (specifically, to Synapse’s Axon storage). Adding the file will create the file:bytes node in the Cortex based on the file’s SHA256 value. Synapse will also calculate and set additional properties for the file:bytes node’s size and other hashes (e.g., MD5, SHA1, etc.).

Creating file:bytes nodes in this manner is often done programmatically (such as via a Synapse Power-Up) that can download or ingest files. Other options include:

  • the built-in Synapse wget command;

  • the Upload File menu option available from the Synapse UI (Optic), which allows you to either upload a file from local disk, or download a file from a specified URL; or

  • the pushfile tool, available from the CLI in the community version of Synapse (see pushfile).

Tip

Like other external (to Storm) commands, the pushfile tool is accessible from the Storm CLI (see storm) as !pushfile.

Similarly, Storm’s HTTP library ($lib.inet.http) could be leveraged to retrieve a web-based file and use the returned bytes as input (potentially using Storm variables - see Storm Reference - Advanced - Variables) to the guid generator. A detailed discussion of this method is beyond the scope of this section; see the Storm Libraries technical documentation for additional detail.

Operations

For some lift and filter operations, you may optionally specify file:bytes nodes using a “sufficiently unique” partial match of the node’s primary property. For example, the prefix operator ( ^= ) may be used to specify a unique prefix for the file:bytes node’s SHA256 or guid value:

storm> file:bytes^=sha256:021b4ce5
file:bytes=sha256:021b4ce5c4d9eb45ed016fe7d87abe745ea961b712a08ea4c6b1b81d791f1eca
        :md5 = 8934aeed5d213fe29e858eee616a6ec7
        :name = adobeupdater.exe
        :sha1 = a7e576f41f7f100c1d03f478b05c7812c1db48ad
        :sha256 = 021b4ce5c4d9eb45ed016fe7d87abe745ea961b712a08ea4c6b1b81d791f1eca
        :size = 182820
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.043

Usage Notes:

  • When using the prefix operator, the sha256: or guid: prefix string must be included.

  • The length of the value that is “sufficiently unique” to select a single file:bytes will vary depending on the data in your instance of Synapse. If your selection criteria matches more than one file:bytes node, Synapse will return all matches.

  • Alternatively, the regular expression operator ( ~= ) may be used to specify a partial string match anywhere in the file:bytes node’s primary property value (though this is an inefficient way to specify a file:bytes node).

guid

Within Synapse, a Globally Unique Identifier (guid) as a Type explicitly refers to a 128-bit value used as a form’s primary property.

The term should not be confused with the definition of GUID used by Microsoft, or with other types of identifiers (node ID, task ID) used within Synapse.

The guid type is used as the primary property for forms that cannot be uniquely defined by any set of specific properties. See the background documents on the Synapse data model for additional details on the Guid Form.

A guid value may be generated arbitrarily or in a predictable (i.e., repeatable) manner based on a defined set of inputs.

See the section on file:bytes types for discussion of file:bytes as a specialized instance of a guid type.

Indexing

N/A

Parsing

Guids must be input using their complete 128-bit value. It is generally impractical to manually type a guid. Guid forms are most often specified by referencing the node via a more human-friendly secondary property. Alternately, the guid value can be copied and pasted.

Insertion

Guids can be generated arbitrarily or as predictable values. When choosing a method, you should consider how you will deconflict guid-based nodes. See Guid Best Practices below for additional discussion.

Arbitrary Values

When creating a new guid node, you can specify the asterisk ( * ) as the primary property value of the new node. This tells Synapse to generate a unique, arbitrary guid for the node. For example:

storm> [ ou:org=* :alias=vertex :name="The Vertex Project" :url=https://vertex.link/ ]
ou:org=a9042f516acac1e29f8c9442ac8ce518
        :alias = vertex
        :name = the vertex project
        :url = https://vertex.link/
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.058

The above query creates a new organization node with a unique arbitrary guid for its primary property, and sets the specified secondary properties.

Warning

Because the guid generated by the asterisk is arbitrary, running the above query a second time will create a second ou:org node with a new unique guid (potentially resulting in two nodes representing the same organization within the same Cortex).

The advantage of arbitrary values is that they are simple to generate. This is particularly useful for analysts who need to manually create guid nodes (organizations, contacts, threats) on a regular basis as part of their workflow.

The disadvantage is that arbitrary values are truly arbitrary; there is no easy way to deconflict the nodes.

  • Users may inadvertently create duplicate nodes. That is, two users can independently create nodes with different guids to represent the same object. The only way to prevent this is by convention - for example, establishing internal processes where users “check first” before creating certain nodes. Note that while this may limit duplication, it is unlikely to eliminate it entirely.

  • Bulk data that is ingested using arbitraty guids cannot be reingested, at least not in the same way. Reingesting the same data will create a second set of nodes for the same data but with different arbitrary guids.

Predictable Values

You can generate a guid value in a predictable manner based on a defined set of inputs. The inputs are specified as a comma-separated list within a set of parentheses. The guid generator uses these values as “seed” data to create a predictable guid value; the same set of seed data always generates the same guid.

For example:

storm> [ ou:org=('the vertex project',https://vertex.link) :name='the vertex project' :url=https://vertex.link ]
ou:org=6f08c79ef95d73102af8b4ebca9c22f9
        :name = the vertex project
        :url = https://vertex.link
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.134

The query above creates a new organization node whose guid is generated using the company name and web site as a set of (presumably) unique inputs that will result in a unique (but predictable / deterministic) guid.

The advantage of predictable guids is that they are re-encounterable and therefore deconflictable: if you ingest data using a predictable guid, the same data can be reingested without creating duplicate nodes. This is helpful in cases where a preliminary data set is loaded into Synapse for analysis, and subsequent changes (improvements to the ingest logic, additions to the Synapse data model) allow you to capture additional detail from the original data set.

The disadvantage is that this method is more complicated for users who need to manually create guid nodes. Expecting a group of users to all remember to specify the same set of inputs in the same order (and without typos) each time they create a guid node is unrealistic.

In addition, predictable guids may not fully address challenges associated with ingesting similar data from different sources. Multiple vendors may provide similar information on the same entity. If you obtain data for the same object (an organization, a person, a certificate) from different sources, you may end up with two different nodes if the “predictable” guids are generated with different seed data from each source.

Guid Best Practices

When selecting a method to create guids, a key consideration is how you will deconflict data represented by guid forms. Guid forms are unique in that their primary property has no direct or obvious relationship to the object it represents. The primary property ou:org=44db774d29f27684add0d892931c6e86 tells me this is an organization node, but provides no clue as to whether the organization is The Vertex Project, the World Bank, or the University of Michigan marching band.

The important information about “what” a guid form represents is stored in the form’s secondary properties. So from a deconfliction standpoint, the best way to see if a guid node already exists is to use secondary property deconfliction:

  • Query for an existing node based on one or more meaningful secondary properties.

  • The query will lift (return) the selected node(s), if found; otherwise

  • Create a new guid node using an arbitrary guid ( * ).

Example

SSL/TLS certificate data is available from various data sources / APIs; different sites or vendors may provide similar information about the same certificate. Certificate metadata (i.e., information such as fingerprints, validity dates, etc.) is represented as a crypto:x509:cert node, which is a guid form. If you obtain data about the same certificate from different data sources, you risk the creation of duplicate nodes.

Instead, when ingesting data about a specific certificate, a user (or process) can first check for a crypto:x509:cert node based on a unique property, such as a certificate fingerprint (e.g., crypto:x509:cert:sha1, or ideally crypto:x509:cert:sha256 to avoid hash collisions). If an existing node is found, that node can be selected and updated (or otherwise operated on); otherwise a new node for that certificate can be created using an arbitrary guid ( * ) with the appropriate secondary properties set.

Using secondary property deconfliction for guid nodes has the advantage of deconflicting on meaningful properties (those likely to uniquely identify an object), without relying on knowledge of any specific method used to create predictable guids. (Note that “predictable guids” are often generated using these same secondary properties; so deconflicting on the properties directly is both more straightforward and more transparent.)

Tip

When choosing a secondary property (or properties) to deconflict on, you should select ones that can sufficiently deconflict the form and are likely to be present in the data source(s) you may use to obtain information about the form.

Secondary property deconfliction is not guaranteed to eliminate all duplications, but is highly effective in many cases. This method can be used both programmatically (i.e., in any ingest scripts or Power-Ups (Power-Up)) and by users who can “spot check” for the existence of a node before manually creating one.

Tip

Synapse implements several Storm commands known as generator (“gen”) commands. These commands simplify secondary property deconfliction and node creation for several common guid nodes.

For example, the gen.ou.org command takes an organization name as input (e.g, “vertex”), checks for any ou:org nodes with that name (i.e., in the :name or :names properties) and either lifts the existing node, or creates a new one.

See the gen section in the Storm Reference - Storm Commands for available generator commands (or run help from your Synapse CLI).

Arbitrary Guids

For some use cases, the use of arbitrary guids (without secondary property deconfliction) may be reasonable. This approach may be suitable when:

  • The data you are ingesting is truly unique (i.e., the same or similar data is not available from another source). For example, log or alert data that is specific to a unique sensor or host.

  • You need to perform a one-time ingest of the data (i.e., you do not plan to reingest the same data in the future).

If the data is unique, but you may need to reingest it at some point, secondary property deconfliction or predictable guids are more appropriate.

Predictable Guids

For some use cases, the use of predictable guids (without secondary property deconfliction) may be reasonable. This approach may be suitable when:

  • You have a unique set of data (not available from another data source) to ingest and want the option to reingest it in the future without creating duplicate nodes.

  • The data is sufficiently unique that nodes representing the data will not already exist in Synapse.

  • You cannot use secondary property deconfliction given the nature of the data. In this case, deconfliction based on predictable guids may be the “next best” option.

When using predictable guids, the “seed” data to generate the guid should be unique to both the node being created and the specific data source. For example, your inputs could include:

  • A string representing the data source.

  • The timestamp associated with the data, if one exists.

  • The values of one or more secondary properties for the node you are creating. Be sure to choose properties where:

    • the property / properties will always be present for the given data source; and

    • the set of properties is sufficient to create a unique node.

For example, a media:news node might be created using:

  • A data source string (e.g., my_data_source).

  • The publication date of the article (e.g., 2022/09/12)

  • The URL where the article was published (e.g., https://www.example.com/my_article.html)

Predictable guid values can be generated directly (as part of Storm Edit Mode syntax):

storm> [ media:news=(my_data_source,2022/09/12,https://www.example.com/my_article.html) ]
media:news=f9515b24f615448ed44601645d547f6a
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.143

Alternately, guid values can be generated and assigned to a variable using the Storm $lib.guid() library (see $lib.guid(*args)). The values provided as arguments to $lib.guid() can be either specific values or variables:

storm> $guid=$lib.guid(my_data_source,2022/09/12,https://www.example.com/my_article.html) [ media:news=$guid ]
media:news=f9515b24f615448ed44601645d547f6a
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.143

storm> $source=my_data_source $published=2022/09/12 $url=https://www.example.com/my_article.html $guid=$lib.guid($source,$published,$url) [ media:news=$guid ]
media:news=f9515b24f615448ed44601645d547f6a
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.143

Note that the same guid value is generated in each of the three examples above.

Note

The input to the guid generator is interpreted as a structured list, specifically, a list of string values (i.e., (str_0, str_1, str_2...str_n)). Deconfliction depends on the same list being submitted to the generator in the same order each time.

The guid generator is not “model aware” and will not recognize items in the list as having a particular data type or representing a particular property value. That is, Synapse will not set any secondary property values based on data provided to the guid generator. Any property values must be set as part of the node creation process.

A full discussion of writing ingest code (particulary for Storm packages, services, or Power-Ups) is beyond the scope of this User Guide. For more information, see the Synapse Developer Guide.

Operations

Because guid values are unwieldy to use on the command line (outside of copy and paste operations), guid nodes may be more easily lifted by a unique secondary property.

Examples:

Lift an org node by its alias:

storm> ou:org:alias=choam
ou:org=66ec6e00cdb7d8e394ad08e670494f7b
        :alias = choam
        :name = combine honnete ober advancer mercantiles
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.206

Lift a DNS request node by the name used in the DNS query:

storm> inet:dns:request:query:name=pop.seznam.cz
inet:dns:request=550c0e10524626f51b58c6c10c9e6270
        :query:name = pop.seznam.cz
        :query:name:fqdn = pop.seznam.cz
        :time = 2020/04/30 09:30:33.000
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.221

It is also possible to lift and filter guid nodes using a “sufficiently unique” prefix match of the guid value.

Example:

Lift a ps:contact node by a partial prefix match:

storm> ps:contact^=13c9663e
ps:contact=13c9663e5f553014eb50d00bb7c6945a
        :name = seongsu park
        :orgname = kaspersky lab
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.240

The length of the value that is “sufficiently unique” will vary depending on the data in your instance of Synapse. If your selection criteria matches more than one node, Synapse will return all matches.

When setting or updating a secondary property that is a guid value, you may use a “human friendly” Storm query (specifically a subquery) to reference the node whose primary property (guid value) you wish to set for the secondary property.

Example:

Set the :org property for a ps:contact node to the guid value of the associated ou:org node using a Storm query:

storm> ps:contact:name='ron the cat' [ :org={ ou:org:name=vertex } ]
ps:contact=19d4c55c6c759e9768c260431614fbde
        :name = ron the cat
        :org = 29b6e7bad25fc3538503ba94bd89365a
        :title = cattribution analyst
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.252

Note

The Storm query used to specify the guid node must return exactly one node. If the query returns more than one node, or does not return any nodes, Synapse will generate an error.

See Add or Modify Properties Using Subqueries for additional details.

inet:fqdn

Fully qualified domain names (FQDNs) are structured as a set of string elements separated by the dot ( . ) character. The Domain Name System acts as a “reverse hierarchy” (operating from right to left instead of from left to right) separated along the dot boundaries - i.e., com is the hierarchical root for domains such as google.com or microsoft.com.

Because of this logical structure, Synapse includes certain optimizations for working with inet:fqdn types:

  • Reverse string indexing on inet:fqdn types.

  • Default values for the secondary properties :issuffix and :iszone of a given inet:fqdn node based on the values of those properties for the node’s parent domain.

Indexing

Synapse performs reverse string indexing on inet:fqdn types. Domains are indexed in full reverse order - that is, the domain this.is.my.domain.com is indexed as moc.niamod.ym.si.siht to account for the “reverse hierarchy” implicit in the DNS structure.

Parsing

N/A

Insertion

When inet:fqdn nodes are created (or modifications to certain properties are made), Synapse uses some built-in logic to set certain secondary properties related to zones of control (specifically, :issuffix, :iszone, and :zone).

The reverse hierarchy implicit in dotted FQDNs represents elements such as <host>.<domain>.<suffix>, but can also represent implicit or explicit zones of control. The term “zone of control” is loosely defined, and is not meant to represent control or authority by any specific organization or entity. Instead, “zone of control” can be thought of as a boundary within an individual FQDN hierarchy where control of a portion of the domain namespace shifts from one entity or owner to another.

A simple example is the com top-level domain (managed by Verisign) vs. the domain microsoft.com (controlled by Microsoft Corporation). Com represents one zone of control where microsoft.com represents another.

The inet:fqdn form in the Synapse data model uses several secondary properties that relate to zones of control:

  • :issuffix = primary zone of control

  • :iszone = secondary zone of control

  • :zone = authoritative zone for a given domain or subdomain

(Note: contrast :zone with :domain which simply represents the next level “up” in the hierarchy from the current domain).

Synapse uses the following logic for suffixes and zones upon inet:fqdn creation:

  1. All domains consisting of a single element (such as com, museum, us, br, etc.) are considered suffixes and receive the following default values:

    • :issuffix = 1

    • :iszone = 0

    • :zone = <none / property not created>

    • :domain = <none / property not created>

  2. Any domain whose parent domain is a suffix is considered a zone and receives the following default values:

    • :issuffix = 0

    • :iszone = 1

    • :zone = <set to self>

    • :domain = <set to parent domain>

  3. Any domain whose parent domain is a zone is considered a “normal” subdomain and receives the following default values:

    • :issuffix = 0

    • :iszone = 0

    • :zone = <set to parent domain>

    • :domain = <set to parent domain>

  4. Any domain whose parent domain is a “normal” subdomain receives the following default values:

    • :issuffix = 0

    • :iszone = 0

    • :zone = <set to first fqdn “up” the domain hierarchy with :iszone = 1>

    • :domain = <set to parent domain>

Note

The above logic is recursive over all nodes in a Cortex. Changing an :issuffix or :iszone property on an existing inet:fqdn node will not only modify that node, but also propagate any changes associated with those properties to any existing subdomains.

Potential Limitations

This logic works well for single-element top-level domains (TLDs) (such as com vs microsoft.com). However, it does not address cases that may be relevant for certain types of analysis, such as:

  • Top-level country code domains and their subdomains. Under Synapse’s default logic uk is a suffix and co.uk is a zone. However, co.uk could also be considered a suffix in its own right, because subdomains such as somecompany.co.uk are under the control of the organization that registers them. In this case, uk would be a suffix, com.uk could be considered both a suffix and a zone, and somecompany.co.uk could be considered a zone.

  • Special-case zones of control. Some domains (such as those used to host web-based services) can be considered specialized zones of control. In these cases, the service provider typically owns the “main” domain (such as wordpress.com) but individual customers can register personal subdomains for their hosted services (such as joesblog.wordpress.com). The division between wordpress.com and individual customer subdomains could represent different zones of control. In this case, com would be a suffix, wordpress.com could be considered both a suffix and a zone, and joesblog.wordpress.com could be considered a zone.

Examples such as these are not accounted for by Synapse’s suffix / zone logic. The definition of additional domains as suffixes and / or zones is an implementation decision (though once the relevant properties are set, the changes are propagated recursively as noted above).

Operations

Because of Synapse’s reverse string indexing for inet:fqdn types, domains can be lifted or filtered based on matching any partial domain suffix string. The asterisk ( * ) is the extended operator used to perform this operation. The asterisk does not have to be used along dot boundaries but can match anywhere in any FQDN element.

Examples

Lift all domains that end with yahooapis.com:

storm> inet:fqdn='*yahooapis.com'
inet:fqdn=ayuisyahooapis.com
        :domain = com
        :host = ayuisyahooapis
        :issuffix = false
        :iszone = true
        :zone = ayuisyahooapis.com
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.289
inet:fqdn=micyuisyahooapis.com
        :domain = com
        :host = micyuisyahooapis
        :issuffix = false
        :iszone = true
        :zone = micyuisyahooapis.com
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.292
inet:fqdn=usyahooapis.com
        :domain = com
        :host = usyahooapis
        :issuffix = false
        :iszone = true
        :zone = usyahooapis.com
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.295

Lift all domains ending with s.wordpress.com:

storm> inet:fqdn="*s.wordpress.com"
inet:fqdn=s.wordpress.com
        :domain = wordpress.com
        :host = s
        :issuffix = false
        :iszone = false
        :zone = wordpress.com
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.318
inet:fqdn=dogs.wordpress.com
        :domain = wordpress.com
        :host = dogs
        :issuffix = false
        :iszone = false
        :zone = wordpress.com
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.314
inet:fqdn=sss.wordpress.com
        :domain = wordpress.com
        :host = sss
        :issuffix = false
        :iszone = false
        :zone = wordpress.com
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.321
inet:fqdn=www.sss.wordpress.com
        :domain = sss.wordpress.com
        :host = www
        :issuffix = false
        :iszone = false
        :zone = wordpress.com
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.321
inet:fqdn=cats.wordpress.com
        :domain = wordpress.com
        :host = cats
        :issuffix = false
        :iszone = false
        :zone = wordpress.com
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.309

Downselect a set of DNS A records to those with domains ending with .museum:

storm> inet:dns:a +:fqdn="*.museum"
inet:dns:a=('woot.museum', '5.6.7.8')
        :fqdn = woot.museum
        :ipv4 = 5.6.7.8
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.343

Usage Notes

  • Because the asterisk is a non-alphanumeric character, the string to be matched must be enclosed in single or double quotes (see Whitespace and Literals in Storm).

  • Because domains are reverse-indexed instead of prefix indexed, for lift operations, partial string matching can only occur based on the end (suffix) of a domain. It is not possible to lift FQDNs by prefix. For example, inet:fqdn^=yahoo is invalid.

  • Domains can be filtered by prefix (^=). For example, inet:fqdn="*.biz" +inet:fqdn^=smtp is valid.

  • Domains cannot be filtered based on suffix matching (note that a “lift by suffix” is effectively a combined “lift and filter” operation).

  • Domains can be lifted or filtered using the regular expression (regex) extended operator (~=). For example inet:fqdn~=google is valid (see Lift by Regular Expression (~=) and Filter by Regular Expression (~=)).

inet:ipv4

IPv4 addresses are stored as integers and represented (displayed) to users as dotted-decimal strings.

Indexing

IPv4 addresses are indexed as integers. This optimizes various comparison operations, including greater than / less than, range, etc.

Parsing

While IPv4 addresses are stored and indexed as integers, they can be input into Storm (and used within Storm operations) as any of the following.

  • integer: inet:ipv4 = 3232235521

  • hex: inet:ipv4 = 0xC0A80001

  • dotted-decimal string: inet:ipv4 = 192.168.0.1

  • range: inet:ipv4 = 192.168.0.1-192.167.0.10

  • CIDR: inet:ipv4 = 192.168.0.0/24

Insertion

The ability to specify IPv4 values using either range or CIDR format allows you to “bulk create” sets of inet:ipv4 nodes without the need to specify each address individually.

Examples

Note: results (output) not shown below due to length.

Create ten inet:ipv4 nodes:

[ inet:ipv4 = 192.168.0.1-192.168.0.10 ]

Create the 256 addresses in the range 192.168.0.0/24:

[ inet:ipv4 = 192.168.0.0/24 ]

Operations

Similar to node insertion, lifting or filtering IPV4 addresses by range or by CIDR notation will operate on every inet:ipv4 node that exists within the Cortex and falls within the specified range or CIDR block. This allows operating on multiple contiguous IP addresses without the need to specify them individually.

Examples

Lift all inet:ipv4 nodes within the specified range that exist within the Cortex:

storm> inet:ipv4 = 169.254.18.24-169.254.18.64
inet:ipv4=169.254.18.30
        :type = linklocal
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.490
inet:ipv4=169.254.18.36
        :type = linklocal
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.492
inet:ipv4=169.254.18.53
        :type = linklocal
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.493

Filter a set of DNS A records to only include those whose IPv4 value is within the 172.16.* RFC1918 range:

storm> inet:dns:a:fqdn=woot.com +:ipv4=172.16.0.0/12
inet:dns:a=('woot.com', '172.16.47.12')
        :fqdn = woot.com
        :ipv4 = 172.16.47.12
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.509

ival

ival is a specialized type consisting of two time types in a paired (<min>, <max>) relationship. As such, the individual values in an ival are subject to the same specialized handling as individual time values.

ival types have their own optimizations in addition to those related to time types.

Indexing

N/A

Parsing

An ival type is typically specified as two comma-separated time values enclosed in parentheses. Alternately, an ival can be specified as a single time value with no parentheses (see Insertion below for ival behavior when specifying a single time value).

Single or double quotes are required in accordance with the standard rules for using Whitespace and Literals in Storm. For example:

  • .seen=("2017/03/24 12:13:27", "2017/08/05 17:23:46")

  • +#sometag=(2018/09/15, "+24 hours")

  • .seen=2019/03/24

As ival types are a pair of values (i.e., an explicit minimum and maximum), the values must be placed in parentheses and separated by a comma: (<min>, <max>). The parser expects two explicit values.

An ival can also be specified as a single time value, in which case the value must be specified without parentheses: <time>. See Insertion below for ival behavior when adding vs. modifying using a single time value vs. a (<min>, <max>) pair.

When entering an ival type, each time value can be input using most of the acceptable formats for time types, including explicit times (including lower resolution times and wildcard times), relative times, and the special values now and ?.

ival types also support relative times using +- format to represent both a positive and negative offset from a given point (i.e., "+-1 hour").

When entering relative times in an ival type:

  • A relative time in the first (<min>) position is calculated relative to the current time (now).

  • A relative time in the second (<max>) position is calculated relative to the first (<min>) time.

For example:

  • .seen="+1 hour" means from the current time (now) to one hour after the current time.

  • .seen=(2018/12/01, "+1 day") means from 12:00 AM December 1, 2018 to 12:00 AM December 2, 2018.

  • .seen=(2018/12/01, "-1 day") means from 12:00 AM November 30, 2018 to 12:00 AM December 1, 2018.

  • .seen=(now, "+-5 minutes") means from 5 minutes ago to 5 minutes from now.

  • .seen=("-30 minutes", "+1 hour") means from 30 minutes ago to 30 minutes from now.

When specifying minimum and maximum times for an ival type (or when specifying minimum and maximum time values to the *range= comparator), the following restrictions should be kept in mind:

  • Minimums and maximums that use explicit times and / or special terms (now, ?) should be specified in <min>, <max> order.

    • Specifying a <max>, <min> order will not result in an error message, but because it results in an exclusionary time window, it will not return any nodes (i.e., no time / interval can be both greater than a max value and less than a min value).

    • Similarly, combinations of relative times that result in an effective <max>, <min> after relative offsets are calculated are allowed (will not generate an error), but will result in an exclusionary time window that does not return any nodes.

  • Values that result in a nonsensical <min>, <max> are not allowed and will generate an error. For example:

    • The special value ? cannot be used as a minimum value in a (<min>, <max>) pair.

    • A +- relative time cannot be used as a minimum value in a (<min>, <max>) pair.

    • When specifying a +- relative time as the maximum value in a (<min>, <max>) pair, an explicit <min> value is also required (i.e., either an explicit time or now).

Insertion

  • When adding an ival as a (<min>, <max>) pair, the ival can be specified as described above.

    • If the values for <min> and <max> are identical, then <min> will be set to the specified value and <max> will be set to <min> plus 1 ms.

  • When adding an ival as a single time value, it must be specified without parentheses.

    • When a single time value is used, the <min> value will be set to the specified time and the <max> will be set to the <min> time plus 1 ms.

  • When modifying an existing ival property (including tag timestamps) with either a (<min>, <max>) pair or a single time value, the existing ival is not simply overwritten (as is the norm for modifying properties - see Storm Reference - Data Modification). Instead, the <min> and / or <max> are only updated if the new value(s) are:

    • Less than the current <min>, and / or

    • Greater than the current <max>.

    This means that once set, <min> and <max> can only be “pushed out” to a lower minimum and / or a higher maximum. Specifying a time or times that fall within the current minimum and maximum will have no effect (i.e., the current values will be retained).

    This means that it is not possible to “shrink” an ival directly; to specify a higher minimum or a lower maximum (or to remove the timestamps altogether), you must delete the ival property (or remove the timestamped tag) and re-add it with the updated values.

Operations

ival types can be lifted and filtered (see Storm Reference - Lifting and Storm Reference - Filtering) with the standard equivalent ( = ) operator, which will match the exact <min> and <max> values specified.

Example:

Lift the DNS A nodes whose observation window is exactly from 2018/12/13 01:05 to 2018/12/16 12:57:

storm> inet:dns:a.seen=("2018/12/13 01:05", "2018/12/16 12:57")
inet:dns:a=('yoyodyne.com', '16.16.16.16')
        :fqdn = yoyodyne.com
        :ipv4 = 16.16.16.16
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.539
        .seen = ('2018/12/13 01:05:00.000', '2018/12/16 12:57:00.000')

ival types cannot be used with comparison operators such as “less than” or “greater than or equal to”.

ival types are most often lifted or filtered using the custom interval comparator (@=) (see Lift by Time or Interval (@=) and Filter by Time or Interval (@=)). @= is intended for time-based comparisons (including comparing ival types with time types).

Example:

Lift all the DNS A nodes whose observation window overlaps with the interval of March 1, 2019 through April 1, 2019:

storm> inet:dns:[email protected]=(2019/03/01, 2019/04/01)
inet:dns:a=('hurr.com', '4.4.4.4')
        :fqdn = hurr.com
        :ipv4 = 4.4.4.4
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.556
        .seen = ('2019/01/05 09:38:00.000', '2019/03/12 18:17:00.000')
inet:dns:a=('derp.net', '8.8.8.8')
        :fqdn = derp.net
        :ipv4 = 8.8.8.8
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.560
        .seen = ('2019/03/08 07:26:00.000', '2019/03/22 10:14:00.000')
inet:dns:a=('blergh.org', '2.2.2.2')
        :fqdn = blergh.org
        :ipv4 = 2.2.2.2
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.565
        .seen = ('2019/03/28 22:22:00.000', '2019/04/27 00:03:00.000')

ival types cannot be used with the *range= custom comparator. *range= can only be used to specify a range of individual values (such as time or int).

loc

Loc is a specialized type used to represent geopolitical locations (i.e., locations within geopolitical boundaries) as a series of user-defined dot-separated hierarchical strings - for example, <country>.<state / province>.<city>. This allows specifying locations such as us.fl.miami, gb.london, and ca.on.toronto.

Loc is an extension of the str type. However, because loc types use strings that comprise a dot-separated hierarchy, they exhibit slightly modified behavior from standard string types for certain operations.

Indexing

The loc type is an extension of the str type and so is prefix-indexed like other strings. However, the use of dot-separated boundaries impacts operations using loc values.

loc values are normalized to lowercase.

Parsing

loc values can be input using any case (uppercase, lowercase, mixed case) but will normalized to lowercase.

Components of a loc value must be separated by the dot ( . ) character. The dot is a reserved character for the loc type and is used to separate string elements along hierarchical boundaries. The use of the dot as a reserved boundary marker impacts operations using the loc type. Note that this means the dot cannot be used as part of a location string. For example, the following location value would be interpreted as a hierarchical location with four elements (us, fl, st, and petersburg):

  • :loc = us.fl.st.petersburg

To appropriately represent the “city” element of the above location, an alternate syntax must be used. For example:

  • :loc = us.fl.stpetersburg

  • :loc = "us.fl.saint petersburg"

  • …etc.

As an extension of the str type, loc types are subject to Synapse’s restrictions regarding using Whitespace and Literals in Storm.

Insertion

Same as for parsing.

As loc values are simply dot-separated strings, the use or enforcement of any specific convention for geolocation values and hierarchies is an implementation decision.

Operations

The use of the dot character ( . ) as a reserved boundary marker impacts prefix (^=) and equivalent (=) operations using the loc type.

String and string-derived types are prefix-indexed to optimize lifting or filtering strings that start with a given substring using the prefix (^=) extended comparator. For standard strings, the prefix comparator can be used with strings of arbitrary length. However, for string-derived types (including loc) that use dotted hierarchical notation, the prefix comparator operates along dot boundaries.

This is because the analytical significance of a location string is likely to fall on these hierarchical boundaries as opposed to an arbitrary substring prefix match. That is, it is more likely to be analytically meaningful to lift all locations within the US (^=us) or within Florida (^=us.fl) than it is to lift all locations in the US within states that start with “V” (^=us.v).

Prefix comparison for loc types is useful because it easily allows lifting or filtering at any appropriate level of resolution within the dotted hierarchy:

Examples:

Lift all organizations with locations in Turkey:

storm> ou:org:loc^=tr
ou:org=de31c7b566ad685826a97e76dd1edb64
        :loc = tr.ankara
        :name = republic of turkey ministry of foreign affairs
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.581
ou:org=981188d5a442fc8a905f5b4832e861f3
        :loc = tr.istanbul
        :name = adeo it consulting services
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.584

Lift all IP addresses geolocated in the the province of Ontario, Canada:

storm> inet:ipv4:loc^=ca.on
inet:ipv4=149.248.52.240
        :loc = ca.on
        :type = unicast
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.596
inet:ipv4=49.51.12.195
        :loc = ca.on.barrie
        :type = unicast
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.598
inet:ipv4=199.201.123.200
        :loc = ca.on.keswick
        :type = unicast
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.600

Note

Specifying a more granular prefix value will not match values that are less granular. That is :loc^=ca.on will fail to match :loc=ca.

Lift all places in the city of Seattle:

storm> geo:place:loc=us.wa.seattle
geo:place=5aeddfd20e63801e2636aa9832950e2c
        :latlong = 47.6205099,-122.3514714
        :loc = us.wa.seattle
        :name = space needle
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.613
geo:place=f7fdb1cc648d59cbee732f36396fabef
        :latlong = 47.4502535,-122.3110105
        :loc = us.wa.seattle
        :name = seattle-tacoma international airport
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.616

Usage Notes

  • Use of the equals comparator (=) with loc types will match the exact value only. So :loc = us will match only :loc = us but not :loc = us.ca or :loc = us.il.chicago.

  • Because the prefix match operates on the dot boundary, attempting to lift or filter by a prefix string match that does not fall on a dot boundary will not return any nodes. For example, the filter syntax +:loc^=us.v will fail to return any nodes even if nodes with :loc = us.vt or :loc = us.va exist. (However, it would return nodes with :loc = us.v or :loc = us.v.foo if such nodes exist.)

str

Indexing

String (and string-derived) types are indexed by prefix (character-by-character from the beginning of the string). This allows matching on any initial substring.

Parsing

Some string types and string-derived types are normalized to all lowercase to facilitate pivoting across like values without case-sensitivity. For types that are normalized in this fashion, the string can be entered in mixed-case and will be automatically converted to lowercase.

Strings are subject to Synapse’s restrictions regarding using Whitespace and Literals in Storm.

Insertion

Same as for parsing.

Operations

Because of Synapse’s use of prefix indexing, string and string-derived types can be lifted or filtered based on matching an initial substring of any string using the prefix extended comparator (^=) (see Lift by Prefix (^=) and Filter by Prefix (^=)).

Prefix matching is case-sensitive based on the specific type being matched. If the target property’s type is case-sensitive, the string to match must be entered in case-sensitive form. If the target property is case-insensitive (i.e., normalized to lowercase) the string to match can be entered in any case (upper, lower, or mixed) and will be automatically normalized by Synapse.

Examples

Lift all organizations whose name starts with the word “Acme “:

storm> ou:org:name^='acme '
ou:org=4e34b7a09c3ea401ce44f83048224a9b
        :name = acme construction
        :names = ['acme construction']
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:54.988
ou:org=cb4d7129404b1f63ee49831561a5ae6b
        :name = acme consulting
        :names = ['acme consulting']
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:54.986

Filter a set of Internet accounts to those with usernames starting with ‘matrix’:

storm> inet:web:acct:site=twitter.com +:user^=matrix
inet:web:acct=twitter.com/matrixneo
        :site = twitter.com
        :user = matrixneo
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.642
inet:web:acct=twitter.com/matrixmaster
        :site = twitter.com
        :user = matrixmaster
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.638

Strings and string-derived types can also be lifted or filtered using the regular expression extended comparator ( ~=) (see Lift by Regular Expression (~=) and Filter by Regular Expression (~=)).

syn:tag

syn:tag is a specialized type used for Tag nodes within Synapse. Tags represent domain-specific, analytically relevant observations or assessments. They support a hierarchical namespace based on user-defined dot-separated strings. This hierarchy allows recording classes or categories of analytical observations that can be defined with increasing specificity. (See Analytical Model - Tag Concepts for more information.)

syn:tag is an extension of the str type. However, because syn:tag types use strings that comprise a dot-separated hierarchy, they exhibit slightly modified behavior from standard string types for certain operations.

Indexing

The syn:tag type is an extension of the str type and so is prefix-indexed like other strings. However, the use of dot-separated boundaries impacts some operations using syn:tag values.

syn:tag values are normalized to lowercase.

Parsing

syn:tag values can contain lowercase characters, numerals, and underscores. Spaces and ASCII symbols (other than the underscore) are not allowed. If you attempt to create a tag name that includes a dash character ( - ) it will automatically be converted to an underscore ( _).

Note

Synapse includes support for Unicode words in tag strings; this includes most characters that can be part of a word in any language.

Components of a syn:tag value must be separated by the dot ( . ) character. The dot is a reserved character for the syn:tag type and is used to separate string elements along hierarchical boundaries. The use of the dot as a reserved boundary marker impacts some operations using the syn:tag type.

syn:tag values can be input using any case (uppercase, lowercase, mixed case) but will be normalized to lowercase. As noted above, dashes are automatically converted to underscores.

As syn:tag values cannot contain whitespace (spaces) or escaped characters, the Synapse restrictions regarding using Whitespace and Literals in Storm do not apply.

Examples

The following are all allowed syn:tag values:

  • syn:tag = rep.vt.exploit

  • syn:tag = aka.kaspersky.mal.shamoon.2

  • syn:tag = cno.tgt.cn_mil_pla

The following syn:tag values are not allowed and will generate BadTypeValu errors:

  • syn:tag = this.is.my.@#$*(.tag (contains disallowed characters)

  • syn:tag = "some.threat group.tag" (contains whitespace)

Insertion

A syn:tag node does not have to be created before the equivalent tag can be applied to another node. That is, applying a tag to a node will result in the automatic creation of the corresponding syn:tag node or nodes (assuming the appropriate user permissions). For example:

storm> [inet:fqdn=woot.com +#some.new.tag ]
inet:fqdn=woot.com
        :domain = com
        :host = woot
        :issuffix = false
        :iszone = true
        :zone = woot.com
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.340
        #some.new.tag

The above Storm syntax will both apply the tag #some.new.tag to the node inet:fqdn = woot.com and automatically create the node syn:tag = some.new.tag if it does not already exist (as well as syn:tag = some and syn:tag = some.new). This behavior (based on creating the FQDN woot.com and applying the tag #some.new.tag in the previous example) is shown below by lifting tags that begin with ‘some’:

storm> syn:tag^=some
syn:tag=some
        :base = some
        :depth = 0
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.676
syn:tag=some.new
        :base = new
        :depth = 1
        :up = some
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.676
syn:tag=some.new.tag
        :base = tag
        :depth = 2
        :up = some.new
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.676

Operations

The use of the dot character ( . ) as a reserved boundary marker impacts prefix (^=) and equivalent (=) operations using the syn:tag type.

String and string-derived types are prefix-indexed to optimize lifting or filtering strings that start with a given substring using the prefix (^=) extended comparator. For standard strings, the prefix comparator can be used with strings of arbitrary length. However, for string-derived types (including syn:tag) that use dotted hierarchical notation, the prefix comparator operates along dot boundaries.

This is because the analytical significance of a tag is likely to fall on these hierarchical boundaries as opposed to an arbitrary substring prefix match. That is, it is more likely to be analytically meaningful to lift all nodes with that are related to sinkhole infrastructure (syn:tag^=cno.infra.anon.sink) than it is to lift all nodes with infrastructure tags that begin with “s” (syn:tag^=cno.infra.anon.s).

Prefix comparison for syn:tag types is useful because it easily allows lifting or filtering at any appropriate level of resolution within a tag hierarchy:

Lift all tags in the computer network operations (cno)tree:

storm> syn:tag^=cno
syn:tag=cno
        :base = cno
        :depth = 0
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.688
syn:tag=cno.mal
        :base = mal
        :depth = 1
        :up = cno
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.690
syn:tag=cno.mal.redtree
        :base = redtree
        :depth = 2
        :up = cno.mal
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.690
syn:tag=cno.threat
        :base = threat
        :depth = 1
        :up = cno
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.688
syn:tag=cno.threat.t27
        :base = t27
        :depth = 2
        :up = cno.threat
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.688

Lift all tags representing aliases (e.g., names of malware, threat groups, etc.) reported by Symantec:

storm> syn:tag^=aka.symantec
syn:tag=aka.symantec
        :base = symantec
        :depth = 1
        :up = aka
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.702
syn:tag=aka.symantec.mal
        :base = mal
        :depth = 2
        :up = aka.symantec
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.702
syn:tag=aka.symantec.mal.bifrose
        :base = bifrose
        :depth = 3
        :up = aka.symantec.mal
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.702
syn:tag=aka.symantec.thr
        :base = thr
        :depth = 2
        :up = aka.symantec
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.704
syn:tag=aka.symantec.thr.cadelle
        :base = cadelle
        :depth = 3
        :up = aka.symantec.thr
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.704

Lift all tags representing anonymous VPN infrastructure:

storm> syn:tag^=cno.infra.anon.vpn
syn:tag=cno.infra.anon.vpn
        :base = vpn
        :depth = 3
        :up = cno.infra.anon
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.715
syn:tag=cno.infra.anon.vpn.airvpn
        :base = airvpn
        :depth = 4
        :up = cno.infra.anon.vpn
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.715
syn:tag=cno.infra.anon.vpn.nordvpn
        :base = nordvpn
        :depth = 4
        :up = cno.infra.anon.vpn
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.717

Note that specifying a more granular prefix value will not match values that are less granular. That is, syn:tag^=cno.infra will fail to match syn:tag = cno.

Similarly, use of the equals comparator (=) with syn:tag types will match the exact value only. So syn:tag = aka will match only that tag but not syn:tag = aka.symantec or syn:tag = aka.trend.thr.pawnstorm.

Because the prefix match operates on the dot boundary, attempting to lift or filter by a prefix string match that does not fall on a dot boundary will not return any nodes. For example, the syntax syn:tag^=aka.t will fail to return any nodes even if nodes syn:tag = aka.talos or syn:tag = aka.trend exist. (However, it would return nodes syn:tag = aka.t or syn:tag = aka.t.foo if such nodes exist.)

time

Synapse stores time types in Epoch milliseconds (millis) - that is, the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970. The time type is technically a date/time because it encompasses both a date and a time. A time value alone, such as 12:37 PM (12:37:00.000), is invalid.

See also the section on ival (interval) types for details on how time types are used as minimum / maximum pairs.

Indexing

N/A

Parsing

time values can be input into Storm as any of the following:

  • Explicit times:

    • Human-readable (YYYY/MM/DD hh:mm:ss.mmm):

      "2018/12/16 09:37:52.324"

    • Human-readable “Zulu” (YYYY/MM/DDThh:mm:ss.mmmZ):

      2018/12/16T09:37:52.324Z

    • Human-readable with time zone (YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss.mmm+/-hh:mm). No spaces are allowed between the time value and the time zone offset:

      2018-12-16 09:37:52.324-04:00

      Note

      Synapse does not support the storage of an explicit time zone with a time value (i.e., +0800). Synapse stores time values in UTC for consistency. If a time zone is specified using an acceptable time zone offset format on input, Synapse will automatically convert the value to UTC for storage. If no time zone is specified, Synapse will assume the value is in UTC.

    • No formatting (YYYYMMDDhhmmssmmm):

      20181216093752324

    • Epoch millis:

      (1544953072324)

      Note

      Synapse expects time values to be entered as parseable time strings (such as 2018/12/16 09:37:52.324, which Synapse internally converts to a millis integer for storage). To enter a time in raw epoch millis format, you must enclose it in parentheses so that Synapse interprets the value as a raw integer. (Otherwise, Synapse will attempt to interpret the value as a “no formatting” string, and throw an error.)

  • Relative (offset) time values in the format:

    + | - | +- <count> <unit>

    where <count> is a numeric value and <unit> is one of the following:

    • minute(s)

    • hour(s)

    • day(s)

    Examples:

    • "+7 days"

    • "-15 minutes"

    • "+-1 hour"

  • “Special” time values:

    • the keyword now is used to represent the current date/time.

    • a question mark ( ? ) is used to effectively represent an unspecified / indefinite time in the future (technically equivalent to 9223372036854775807 millis, i.e., “some really high value that is probably the heat death of the universe”. Note that technically the largest valid millis value is 9999999999999 (thirteen 9’s), which represents 2286/11/20 09:46:39.999).

      The question mark can be used as the maximum value of an interval (ival) type to specify that the data or assessment associated with the ival should be considered valid indefinitely. (Contrast that with a maximum interval value set to the equivalent of now that would need to be continually updated over time in order to remain current.)

Standard rules regarding using Whitespace and Literals in Storm apply. For example, "2018/12/16 09:37:52.324" needs to be entered in single or double quotes, but 2018/12/16 does not. Similarly, relative times starting with + or - and the special time value ? need to be placed in single or double quotes.

Lower Resolution Time Values and Wildcard Time Values

time values (including tag timestamps) must be entered at a minimum resolution of year (YYYY) and can be entered up to a maximum resolution of milliseconds (YYYY/MM/DD hh:mm:ss.mmm).

Where lower resolution values are entered, Synapse will make logical assumptions about the intended date / time value and zero-fill the remainder of the equivalent epoch mills date / time. For example:

  • A value of 2016 will be interpreted as 12:00 AM on January 1, 2016 (2016/01/01 00:00:00.000).

  • A value of 2018/10/27 will be interpreted as 12:00 AM on that date (2018/10/27 00:00:00.000).

  • A value of "2020/03/16 05" will be interpreted as 05:00 AM on that date (2020/03/16 05:00:00.000).

  • A value of "2018/10/27 14:00-04:00" will be interpreted as 14:00 (2:00 PM) on that date with a 4 hour offset from UTC (2018/10/27 14:00:00.000-04:00, stored in UTC as 2018/10/27 18:00:00.000).

Synapse also supports the use of the wildcard ( * ) character to specify a partial time value match:

  • A value of 2016* will be interpreted as “any date / time within the year 2016”.

  • A value of 2018/10/27* will be interpreted as “any time on October 27, 2018”.

  • A value of "2020/03/16 05*" will be interpreted as “any time within the hour of 05:00 on March 16, 2020”.

Note

When using wildcard syntax, the wildcard must be used on a sensible time value boundary, such as YYYYMM*. You cannot us a wildcard to “split” values (i.e., YYMMD* is invaild syntax).

Examples:

Set the time of a DNS request to the current time:

storm> [ inet:dns:request="*" :query:name=woot.com :time=now ]
inet:dns:request=b670adb10a35e3bf65098b008e97dc74
        :query:name = woot.com
        :query:name:fqdn = woot.com
        :time = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.730
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.729

Set the observed time window (technically an ival type) for when an IP address was a known sinkhole (via the #cno.infra.dns.sink.hole tag) from its known start date to an indefinite future time (i.e., the sinkhole is presumed to remain a sinkhole indefinitely / until the values are manually updated with an explicit end date):

storm> [ inet:ipv4=1.2.3.4 +#cno.infra.dns.sink.hole=(2017/06/13, "?") ]
inet:ipv4=1.2.3.4
        :type = unicast
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.340
        #cno.infra.dns.sink.hole = (2017/06/13 00:00:00.000, ?)

  • Set the observed time window using a time zone offset:

storm> [ inet:ipv4=5.6.7.8 +#cno.infra.dns.sink.hole=(2017/06/13 09:46+04:00, "?") ]
inet:ipv4=5.6.7.8
        :type = unicast
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.343
        #cno.infra.dns.sink.hole = (2017/06/13 05:46:00.000, ?)

Insertion

When adding or modifying time types, any of the above formats (explicit / relative / special terms) can be specified.

In addition, when adding or modifying time types, a lower resolution time and a wildcard time behave identically. In other words, the following are equivalent Storm queries (both will set the :time value of the newly created DNS request node to 2021/01/23 00:00:00.000):

[ inet:dns:request="*" :time=2021/01/23 ]

[ inet:dns:request="*" :time=2021/01/23* ]

When specifying a relative time for a time value, the offset will be calculated from the current time (now):

storm> [ inet:dns:request="*" :query:name=woot.com :time="-5 minutes" ]
inet:dns:request=4bc471731152e143f016ec169c2dbef8
        :query:name = woot.com
        :query:name:fqdn = woot.com
        :time = 2023/06/05 20:08:55.768
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.766

Plus / minus ( +- ) relative times cannot be specified for time types, as the type requires a single value. See the section on ival (interval) types for details on using +- times with ival types.

Operations

time types can be lifted and filtered using:

  • Standard logical and mathematical comparison operators (comparators).

  • The extended range ( *range= ) custom comparator.

  • The extended interval ( @= ) custom comparator.

Standard Operators

time types can be lifted and filtered with the standard logical and mathematical comparators (see Storm Reference - Lifting and Storm Reference - Filtering). This includes the use of lower resolution time values and wildcard time values.

Example:

Downselect a set of DNS request nodes to those that occurred prior to June 1, 2019:

storm> inet:dns:request +:time<2019/06/01
inet:dns:request=9c3ac7f71bf4a94b48ae1d687309cff9
        :query:name = derp.net
        :query:name:fqdn = derp.net
        :time = 2015/12/14 19:22:00.000
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.777
inet:dns:request=fadaf81e78feb0bf0d5637fdbbbc12a2
        :query:name = hurr.com
        :query:name:fqdn = hurr.com
        :time = 2018/06/28 17:43:00.000
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.775

Note

It is important to understand the differences in behavior when lifting and filtering time types using lower resolution time values (which Synpase zero-fills) or wildcard time values (which Synpase wildcard-matches). These behaviors vary based on the specific operator used.

  • When lifting or filtering using the equivalent ( = ) operator, behavior is different:

    • :time=2021/05/13 means equal to the exact date/time value 2021/05/13 00:00:00.000.

    • :time=2021/05/13* means equal to any time on that date (2021/05/13 00:00:00.000 through 2021/05/13 23:59:59.999).

  • When lifting or filtering using the greater than ( >) / greater than or equal to ( >=) operators, behavior is equivalent:

    • :time>2021/05/13 and :time>2021/05/13* both mean any date / time greater than 2021/05/13 00:00:00.000.

    • :time>=2021/05/13 and :time>=2021/05/13* both mean any date / time greater than or equal to 2021/05/13 00:00:00.000.

    Both are equivalent because in this case Synapse interprets the wildcard syntax as “greater than or equal to the lowest possible wildcard match”, which in this case is 2021/05/13 00:00:00.000.

  • When lifting or filtering using the less than ( < ) / less than or equal to ( <= ) operators, behavior is different:

    • :time<2021/05/13 / :time<=2021/05/13 mean any date / time less than (or less than or equal to) 2021/05/13 00:00:00.000.

    • :time<2021/05/13* / :time<=2021/05/13* both mean any date / time less than (or less than or equal to) 2021/05/13 23:59:59.999.

    The behavior differs because in this case Synapse interprets the wildcard syntax as “less than or equal to the highest possible wildcard match”, which in this case is 2021/05/13 23:59:59.999.

Tip

The wildcard syntax is useful because it can provide a simplified, more intuitive means to specify certain time ranges / time intervals without needing to use the range ( *range= ) or interval ( @= ) operators. For example, the following three Storm queries are equivalent and will return all files compiled at any time within the year 2019:

file:bytes:mime:pe:compiled=2019*

file:bytes:mime:pe:compiled*range=('2019/01/01 00:00:00.000', '2019/12/31 23:59:59.999')

file:bytes:mime:pe:[email protected]=('2019/01/01', '2020/01/01')

(A range maximum value represents “less than or equal to” that value, while an interval maximum value represents “less than” that value.)

Range Custom Operator

time types can lifted and filtered using the *range= custom comparator (see Lift by Range (*range=) and Filter by Range (*range=)).

Example:

Lift a set of file:bytes nodes whose PE compiled time is between January 1, 2019 and today:

storm> file:bytes:mime:pe:compiled*range=(2019/01/01, now)
file:bytes=sha256:9f9d96e99cef99cbfe8d02899919a7f7220f2273bb36a084642f492dd3e473da
        :mime:pe:compiled = 2019/10/07 12:42:45.000
        :sha256 = 9f9d96e99cef99cbfe8d02899919a7f7220f2273bb36a084642f492dd3e473da
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.790
file:bytes=sha256:bd422f912affcf6d0830c13834251634c8b55b5a161c1084deae1f9b5d6830ce
        :mime:pe:compiled = 2021/04/13 00:23:14.000
        :sha256 = bd422f912affcf6d0830c13834251634c8b55b5a161c1084deae1f9b5d6830ce
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.793

Note

Both lower resolution times and wildcard times can be used for values specified within the *range= operator. Because the range operator is a shorthand syntax for “greater than or equal to <range_min> and less than or equal to <range_max>”, users should be aware of differences in behavior between each kind of time value with greater than / less than operators.

See the Storm documents referenced above for additional examples using the range (*range=) comparator.

Interval Custom Operator

time types can be lifted and filtered using the interval ( @= ) custom comparator (see Lift by Time or Interval (@=) and Filter by Time or Interval (@=)). The comparator is specifically designed to compare time types and ival types, which can be useful (for example) for filtering to a set of nodes whose time properties fall within a specified interval.

Example:

Lift a set of DNS A records whose window of observation includes March 16, 2019 at 13:00 UTC:

storm> inet:dns:[email protected]='2019/03/16 13:00'
inet:dns:a=('aaaa.org', '1.2.3.4')
        :fqdn = aaaa.org
        :ipv4 = 1.2.3.4
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.807
        .seen = ('2018/12/29 12:36:27.000', '2019/06/03 18:14:33.000')
inet:dns:a=('derp.net', '8.8.8.8')
        :fqdn = derp.net
        :ipv4 = 8.8.8.8
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.560
        .seen = ('2019/03/08 07:26:00.000', '2019/03/22 10:14:00.000')
inet:dns:a=('bbbb.edu', '5.6.7.8')
        :fqdn = bbbb.edu
        :ipv4 = 5.6.7.8
        .created = 2023/06/05 20:13:55.811
        .seen = ('2019/03/16 12:59:59.000', '2019/03/16 13:01:01.000')

Note

Both lower resolution times and wildcard time can be used for values specified within the @= operator. Because the interval operator is a shorthand syntax for “greater than or equal to <ival_min> and less than <ival_max>”, users should be aware of differences in behavior between each kind of time value with greater than / less than operators.

See the Storm documents referenced above for additional examples using the interval (@=) comparator.